Spartan Stores, Inc. voluntarily recalls food over Listeria concerns

More than 100 products to be recalled

Grand Rapids-based Spartan Stores, Inc. began voluntarily recalling dozens of deli products Wednesday, as a precaution against selling food with Listeria monocytogenes -- a bacterium that can cause dangerous infections when consumed by infants and seniors.

The 10th largest grocery distributor in the nation released a statement Wednesday stating "no products have been identified as having (Listeria), nor have any illnesses been reported" but would be recalling the products as a precaution because of possible contact.

Spartan Stores, Inc. is recalling the products after distributing them to its Michigan stores, including Glen's, Family Fare, D&W Fresh Market, and VG's and independent store brands.

Spartan Stores, Inc. has two Glen's stores in Petoskey and other Northern Michigan stores in Boyne City, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, East Jordan, Gaylord, Kalkaska, Mancelona and St. Ignace.

A request for comment was not immediately available from Glen's Fresh Marketplace in Petoskey.

Although Oleson's Food Stores in Petoskey and Charlevoix does sell some products under the Spartan label, they do not sell the products being recalled.

Several hundred pre-made vegetable, sandwich and salad products are being recalled from the deli sections. Products being recalled have a Spartan logo or Spartan Fresh Selections oval label.

People who have purchased the listed products should throw them away.

Listeria can cause serious infections in people when contaminated food is consumed.

Pregnant women, newborns, older adults and adults with weak immune systems are at high risk when consuming of Listeria infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In September, Listeria has caused three deaths and hospitalized 11 others in an outbreak across the country, according to the CDC.

Cases have been recorded in California, Colorado, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The outbreak is being sourced to Frescolina bran ricotta salata cheese, sold by Forever Cheese, Inc. Michigan is not one of the states the cheese was distributed in.

For up-to-date information and resources, visit www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/ or call the CDC at (800) 232-4636.

For Spartan Store consumer questions, call (800) 451-8500.

Follow @BrandonHubbard on Twitter.

The full list of the Spartan Store, Inc. items being voluntarily recalled: List of items by PRODUCT, UPC, and SIZE